tony_brent

Very strange. It almost sounds like a bad batch of film. Are you bulk

loading, or using factory film?

<p>

Just for something entirely different -- has there been any work done

on your plumbing recently that might have stirred up old gunk in the

pipes? I can't figure out what the "sand" might be.

<p>

It does definitely sound like some kind of fogging problem. Either

there is still some light in the room when you load the reels, or

those several rolls were exposed to heat, chemicals or radiation of

some kind that your others weren't.

<p>

Can you shoot another test roll from that batch and take it to the

teacher's darkroom and try with his chemicals? That might be a check

on where the problem is coming from.

A couple of things come to mind.

First, how about standardizing on one brand and type of film, and

that manufacturer's recommended developer, rather than trying to

chase things around. If you are going to be doing outdoor work, how

about a 100 to 125 ASA film. For lower light, stay with the 400.

<p>

Next, how about your meter? Is it an in-the-camera meter, or a

separate hand held one? Are the batteries fresh, and is the meter

calibrated? (Fairly easy to do over the counter at a good repair

facility or camera shop who knows their stuff)

<p>

While you are there, have your shutter tested too.

<p>

Take a look at one of the rolls that is all dense and ugly. Does it

look like it has a foggy, hazy black area all around the sharp edge

of the frame? Or is the frame edge still sharp? If it is foggy, it

probably means overexposure -- light meter or shutter need attention.

If it is sharp it probably means over development -- too strong a

dilution of the developer, too high a temperature or too vigorous

agitation or a combination.

<p>

Probably best to start over with only one brand and type of film and

developer and keep everything constant. Use the manufacturer's

recommendations for everything first. Then change one thing at a time

and keep good records of what you do. Shoot a "slate" or clipboard

with all the information about film, exposure etc. If you start

tossing things out at random, you may solve the problem but you won't

really know which it really was.

You have some interesting flea markets around your area. First a

Kodak contact printer, now the makings of a ... hmmm.

There were some othr photos of that type back a few years. I think

they might have been in the Speed Graphic book where it dealth with

the back shutter. One of the topics was just this leaning effect,

caused by the image of the moving object shifting laterally as the

shutter travelled vertically.

<p>

If he had held the camera stationary, the car would still be leaning,

but the people would be vertical. So this photo is indeed the result

of panning the camera combined with the travel time of the shutter.

<p>

To get the same thing in a 35mm you would have to have one of the

shutters that travels the short way of the film. Even then as the

others said, it moves much faster than the Speed Graphic shutter.

<p>

The theory will probably drive you bonkers if you try to analyse it.

Just go out to the race track and shoot some holders and see what you

get.

Ditto on its being a good film and a great price. I have used it in

35mm, 120 and 4x5, all in HC-110 with good results and lots of "zone

system" room. If the 4x5 is a bit thinner in the base, the 120 is a

little thicker than Kodak, and a bit easier to load onto a Nikkor

reel.

<p>

Freestyle also has (I think) Arista in color neg and color transp. I

may be wrong, but I think I will try some and see what I get. The

price is good enough that I can run through a few rolls without

breaking the bank.

Just a thought. Maybe one of the flat fresnel-type reading magnifiers

about the size of a business card. They are sometimes available in the

drug stores. I believe they are meant to be used flat on the page, but

it may work a couple of inches away from the ground glass too. You

could try it without buying it. Just see how well it does when held

away from your hand.

For the 1/4" glass, you can also get U-shaped aluminum channels in the

hardware store that finish it off nicely. If you're careful you can

mount some handles too.

<p>

If you are going to do production runs of one neg in any quantity, a

chest type or cabinet type is the way to go. It wouldn't take too much

to build one. The commercial photog I used to work for built one for

printing 8x10 color negs, complete with filter tray and dodging glass.

It worked fine.

Series VI, like the man said. As I recall, the 127mm took a 1 5/8"

slip-on adapter, and the 203mm took a 1 1/2" size. I dont know if

there are any thread-on adapters. I have never seen any. You need to

prowl through your camera shop's odds-n-ends bin.

I think most of the portraiture that was done with the "hat trick"

shutter ran to a couple second's exposure. And the stilted look of a

lot of old portraits probably was due to the photog's admonition to

"hold still and watch the birdie."

<p>

Even so, you might have more control if you went to a slower Polaroid,

like Type 54 (ASA 100) or type 55 p/n (50 for the print, 32 for the

neg)

<p>

Going open flash is probably a good idea, if you can keep the room

light dim enough so it doesn't mess up your setup. Or maybe you want

it to. Once again, a slower film would give you more time to work in.

<p>

By the way, does your lens have a filter slot between the elements? If

so, that's a place where you could fit a home made slide for a

shutter. Most of the old process type lenses had such a slot. Some

times it's behind a rotating ring.

I know Ansel used it a lot. It was also the recommended film for

making b&w separation negatives for dye transfer color printing. I

think it was because it had a long, very linear straight-line portion

of its characteristic curve and gave very even, predicatble results

with a lot of room for zone system manipulation.

<p>

I loved it as a portrait film for its nice smooth tonal qualities. As

long as there was adequate shadow exposure, you could do just about

anything you wanted with the neg without running off the end of the

scale. It never seemed to block up the highlights, no matter how far I

developed it. There was always a nice rendition in the high values.

Boy I hope so. I had a whole system set up around that stuff. I have

two boxes left that are in cold storage and then that's it.

A little bit off the topic, but may be of interest. I have to go along

with plotting on paper vs typing into a spreadsheet and then trying to

figure out how to get the graph to print. There arent that many points

needed, and it isnt an exotic function.

<p>

Here is a link to a nice bit of freeware that will create all kinds of

graph papers, including logarithmic graph spacing, cartesian, polar,

and some I have never heard of. It also does music manuscript paper,

fancy backgrounds and other neat stuff.

<p>

http://perso.easynet.fr/~philimar/

There was a whole series of discussions on grain focussers at the link

below.

<p>

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=002sxb

I dont think I would oil the piston/cylinder. It would likely get

sticky in short order. Look for some dry moly-disulfide powder from

Nye Lubricants Inc. New Bedford MA 02742. Burnish it onto the sliding

surfaces with a Q-Tip until they take on a shiny appearance.

<p>

There may be some corrosion down indside that needs to be worked on,

but you dont want to use sandpaper that might increase the clearance

and louse it up more.

<p>

Toothpaste is a gentle abrasive that might polish things up before you

use the moly.

<p>

See if Bob Salomon has any thoughts.

Does the rear lens cell of that Xenar taper down to a smaller diameter

where it threads into the mount? If so, there are smaller Packards

available (I think down to 4" square or so) that would mount directly

to the back of the lens board.

The Norman or Lumedyne battery portables have plenty of light -- 200

to 400 w/s depending on the unit. A length of 1 1/2" dia tubing (from

the plumbing shop) makes a good handle that fits the Graflex flash

mounting clips. A bit of ingenuity can come up with a suitable mount

for the flash head.

<p>

For another approach see my article:

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~qtluong/photography/lf/misc/misc-equipment

.html

I'll second the remarks about the Gossen meter. It's the handiest one

I have found and it's right on. They seem to have put it all in a nice

package that is easy to carry. It also uses 1 standard AA battery

instead of exotic specialty ones.

Take a look at the classic black and white portraits of the movie

stars during the "Golden Years" in Hollywood. Very dramatic use of

light and shadow, so-called "classic" portrait lighting set-ups.

<p>

I think the more or less shadowless light from umbrella reflectors

evolved as color portraiture demanded a much shortened contrast range

from what black and white film could handle.

Like the others said, no need at all to apologize for using a Speed

Graphic. Mine is my "duty" camera (old Navy terminology) It's always

loaded with a Grafmatic or Polaroid holder and charged up flash unit.

I can be out the door and taking pictures at the drop of a press card.

<p>

You should visit www.graflex.org for a whole lot of good stuff on

these machines.

It's fun to have your 360mm Schneider fall out into your hands when

you cock it because you didnt set the slide locks all the way. And

dont you just love it when the swings and tilts move when you slide

the holder in? After you have kicked the tripod legs and dropped the

darkcloth in the prickle burrs?

That's exactly how dye transfer color prints work. The separation negs

are developed in a tanning developer and then dyed. The dye "takes" in

relation to the depth of the tanned image. Kodachrome uses the same

principle, only it does it all on one film base.

Doesnt matter what word you use to describe your photography. If you

sell a photo of someone's house for money in a non-editorial context,

you need a signed release, just as you do for a photograph of a

person. There is a book in print that has examples of model and

property releases, as well as other contracts and legal type documents

that can be used.

<p>

I consider it good etiquette to bring back a nicely matted print and

present it to the homeowner.